[Echocardiographic alteration in patients with hemodynamic stroke]

Echocardiography was made in 330 patients with ischemic stroke. Group 1 consisted of 72(21.8%) patients with hemodynamic stroke, the rest 258(78.2%) patients (group 2) had other pathogenetic subtypes of stroke. Chronic cardiac pathology was represented by postinfarction cardiosclerosis (38.9 and 17.8% for groups 1 and 2, respectively, p < 0.001) and continuous atrial fibrillation (15.3 and 15.1%, respectively, p > 0.05). Stroke volume of the left ventricle (LV), cardiac output and ejection fraction of the LV were significantly less than in group 2 and in control group but within normal range. The number of group 1 patients having local LV dyskinesia and transitory painless myocardial ischemia was significantly higher than in group 2 (p < 0.001). Painless ischemia correlated with local dyskinesia of the LV (p < 0.02). As transitory myocardial ischemia may deteriorate LV contractility and provoke excessive fall of blood pressure, local LV dyskinesia caused by postinfarction changes seems to be a principal and stable echocardiographic sign of developing hemodynamic stroke.